Jack managed to get a lot of work done that day; it helped that his employees were willing to work overtime, and that the machinery they got to use that day ran faster and more efficiently than his own. Of course, as Marcus had much more money, he could afford superior technology. Speaking of Marcus, he showed up a few hours after Jack had started work. He asked the sable if he needed any additional assistance with the machinery, to which he said no; he was able to manage it just fine.

“Okay, that’s good then. By the way, I had no idea you had spoken with Ronald this morning. He told me about what he wanted to do, and what you said as well.”

“Oh, uh, I hope I didn’t do something wrong. He offered to help me; I never pressured him to do anything, and I didn’t even know at first he was your son.”

“Oh no, you didn’t do anything wrong. He told me he wanted to help you with your business in any way he could, and I just wanted to say I okayed the deal. In fact, you can borrow him as much as you need; just be aware that he has a night job on the weekends, and he does have a curfew. Besides that, he’s all yours.”

“Thank you, both of you. Ronald seemed pretty eager to help. That was weird to me at first because he has nothing to do with this, but given how kind and generous you have been to me, I could see how your son would also be like you in that way. You have other children, don’t you?”

“Yes. Ronald has a younger sister named Cecilia, and three children with my wife who are triplets; Xavier, Janet, and Claudia. Ronald’s seventeen, Cecilia is thirteen, and the others are nine.”

The two dads talked about their own families for some time, and even though Jack was slowed down a little, he didn’t mind. After about fifteen minutes, Marcus apologized for taking too much of his time, and turned to go do something else.

“By the way,” Jack stopped him. “My wife and I plan on throwing together a big picnic after this as a celebration, and we would love for you and your family to join us. Maybe then we could talk a lot more casually without the pressure of work.”

“We would love to come, thank you! Yeah, I look forward to having a conversation without an immediate deadline. Until then, I will leave you to do your work. Take care, man.”

“You too.”

The prospect of making a business friend was exciting for Jack, but was also looking forward to Marcus being a potential casual friend, like just someone he could hang out with one day and do something fun together. He liked that, despite how much money he made, he was so relatable and easy to converse with. He couldn’t detect a single elitist bone in his being.

Jack worked all the way until eight that night, though let his employees leave at their usual time of five. He knew his kids were wondering where he was, and that Marie was stuck having to deal with them alone for now, but he assured himself that it would be worth it. He came home that night to Marie trying to calm down Beth, who was throwing a tantrum because her mom wouldn’t let her scribble on the walls with her crayons.

“Jack, please help me out here.” She greeted him; her voice sounding tired. “Beth wants to draw on the walls, and is now crying because I told her they’re not for drawing on.”

“Beth, come here.” Jack beckoned her, and she walked over to him. “I have something you can draw on, but you have to promise me and your mother something first.”

“What?” She moaned.

“Promise us that you will never use your crayons to color on the walls. They’re meant to hold the ceiling up, not be drawn on. That’s why we have paper.”

“But the walls are so big!”

“Does that make it okay to draw on them? Mommy and daddy want the house to look nice and clean, and we bought paper so that, if you wanted to use your crayons, you could draw on all the paper you like.”

“...but I want to draw on the walls.”

Jack sighed. This was going to be a long night.

So Marie opted to prepare dinner for the both of them while Jack argued with their little Picasso. Nights like this were on the con list for Marie of having children, but she reminded herself that her children were in the process of growing up, and that no one was perfectly present as a little kid. She also reminded herself that her children were still a blessing; harder to do when one of them was threatening to draw all over her father’s face.

“If you’re not going to use your crayons the right way and respect mommy’s and daddy’s wishes, then maybe I should take them away.”

“No!”

“Then are you going to behave and draw on the paper instead!”

“No!”

It was then that Dylan came to the rescue with the perfect, though unintended ruse.

Mom! Dad! Beth! Look! I found something cool in the window!”

And just like that, Beth had dropped the battle and followed her brother to their room; their parents right behind them. They hoped this would make their daughter distracted enough to forget that she wanted to ruin the walls.

Dylan pointed out of his window at a funny-looking insect he’d never seen before. Beth was equally confused, but intrigued.

“What is that?” She asked.

“That’s a praying mantis.” her mother answered.

“It’s praying to God?” Dylan asked.

“No, it’s just called that because of the way its front legs look; it looks like it’s praying.”

The children were so awed by the unusual creature, and just like that, Beth had no more desire to desecrate the walls.

Jack and Marie were thankful that Dylan found that bug, and then went on to enjoy the rest of their night in quietness. Over dinner, Marie talked to Jack about her day, which mostly consisted of what the kids were doing, and Jack talked about his day.

“Another weird coincidence happened this morning.” He started. “At first, I drove to my own place out of habit, but before I could turn back, I noticed someone waiting at the front door, or at least, as close as he could get to it.”

“Huh...who was he?”

“I first asked him who he was waiting for, and he said whoever owns this business, which was me, of course. I then asked his name, which was Ronald. He was a squirrel, but get this...he’s actually Marcus’ son. I thought he looked vaguely familiar, and perhaps I saw him with his dad before.”

“Wow, that must not have been expected. Did he say why he was there?” She put down her fork and just listened.

“He said he wanted to help me fix up the place in any way he could. It was weird to me because he had nothing to do with this, and his dad was already helping me out, but I said that I’d be okay with his help, so long as his dad was okay with it too. It’s hard to believe that a family could be this nice to complete strangers, especially when that stranger is competing within your market. I think Marcus is going to win this year’s “Dad of the Year” award; I don’t stand a chance.”

“Aw, well I’m sure Dylan and Beth will vote for you.”

“Yeah, and Beth can scribble out my campaign signs on all the walls.”

They laughed, and continued their conversation.

“That should be an encouragement to you then; demonstrate to your children what is good, right, and honorable, and they’ll be likely to follow in those footsteps. Anyways, have you thought of a way for Ronald to help, that is, if his dad permitted it?”

“I plan to have him help with painting and making the interior of the building look nice with whatever else he could do. He seemed really eager to help, even if it was just picking up trash.”

Marie nodded, as though not surprised. “You know what we should do; invite him and Marcus over to dinner this week to show our appreciation for them. What do you think?”

“I agree, though I can’t promise I won’t be working overtime late again. If we have a dinner, it’d probably be pretty late.”

“Right...maybe it can just be me with them; I can show them how much their care means to me, at least. Besides, we’re still going to have that big picnic after this is all done, so this dinner won’t be much in comparison; just something casual and friendly.”

“Of course, I don’t mind that. I would actually be honored if they came over to our little house to eat dinner; that’s like a king dining with a peon.”

“Come on, don’t downplay us like that; Marcus doesn’t view us that way. Anyways, want to give me his number so I can arrange this with him and Ronald?”

“Sure.” He found a small piece of paper and scribbled it on with a nearby pen. “You know, something has been bothering me lately, and I’m kind of surprised you haven’t brought it up yet.”

“What is it? It better not be some conspiracy about a secret plan Marcus had, like him sending Ronald out in the middle of the night to blow up your business.”

“No no, not that. What I’m bothered by is that, well, the culprit hasn’t revealed him or herself yet. I called the police earlier today to ask if they had found any evidence of who the criminal is, and they still don’t have anything. In fact, the forensics team hasn’t even identified what the explosive even was yet. I’m really, REALLY bothered that whoever did this could’ve run far away by now and will never be caught.”

Marie saw that little glint in his eye; the same thing she always saw when Jack was on his way to getting enraged. She took his paw with hers and massaged it.

“You don’t know that, and here you are again, assuming the worst about something. Even if they’ve run from here, they can’t run forever. Whether the police catch them, whether they don’t, God sees all things, and no sin ever escapes His notice. Worrying about this isn’t going to help them catch the criminal; it’s better to just let them do their job and focus on yours. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God…”

“...and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Jack finished the quote. It was from the fourth chapter of Philippians, and Marie dwelt on that passage so much that she rarely ever found herself worrying about much. Jack knew the passage too, though was more apt to worry. She noticed the glint in his eye disappear, and she smiled from relief.

“Amen to that. Keep doing what you’re doing, and let everyone else do their own job. Your life will be much easier that way.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Besides, it’s only been a day. Crimes sometimes take a long time to solve.”

The two of them went to bed eventually; Jack falling asleep almost right away. Marie stayed awake; not from worry and care, but from something else that was on her mind. She prayed silently for a little longer than usual, as there was a lot on her heart. After she finished, she nestled her head against Jack’s shoulder and drifted to sleep.

By the next night, the building was near being fully repaired, and Jack was told he would be able to go back inside the next day. It still wouldn’t be work-ready, but at least he could start moving things in that direction again. He called up Marcus, and asked to speak to Ronald.

“Hello?”

“Hey, this is Jack. How are you doing today?”

“Feeling stressed.”

“Why’s that? If it’s about working for me, I promise you there are a lot meaner bosses than me.” He joked.

“Well, it’s, uh, school starting again soon.”

“Ah, I understand. Well, it is important, even when it stresses you out. I’m sure you’ll do fine; just work hard, like I know you’re going to work hard to help me pretty soon, which I greatly appreciate.”

“I will.”

“And speaking of which, that was why I called you. I’m going to be at my work tomorrow at seven, so can I expect to see you there at that time?”

Gross. Seven in the morning? Ronald had more important things to do at that hour, like sleep, sleep, and then sleep a little more.

“Yeah, I’ll be there then.”

“And the way I’ll pay you will be at the end of each day you help me. I’ll give you a slightly higher wage than my employees since you’re doing this out of kindness and not obligation. I was thinking...thirty-five an hour. That’s also without the pesky taxes the government takes out.”

Ronald nearly dropped the phone; it was like he was offered to work for a million dollars. Seven in the morning suddenly didn’t seem so bad.

“W-wow! My actual job pays me pennies by comparison; maybe I should just sign up to work for you officially. I’ll get started on my resume.”

Jack laughed. “I’d need you to finish school up first, but this is a good start.” He actually didn’t know what the moral boundary for that was; hiring the son of your own competitor to work for you.

“Someone should write a novel about that, or something.”

“Actually, I should go to bed since I’ll be up early.” Ronald said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, and get lots of rest.”

“Good night.”

Cecilia overheard the conversation and she marched up to her brother; a frown on her face.

“Work tomorrow? Didn’t you, you know, promise me something?” She crossed her arms.

Ronald had a dumbfounded look on his face, as though she were springing something up on him at the last moment.

“You said you were going to go to the art store in the morning and buy me some new sketchbooks, pencils, and watercolors. Remember that deal we made, where we have one opportunity each month to ask each other for a big favor? Mine was that I helped you look for a job after dad told you to start looking. I showed you the ad for the theater, and that’s the job you got. You’re welcome.”

Ronald smacked himself on the forehead. “Oh poop, I forgot! I’m so sorry. Uh, well, I’m sure I won’t be over there the entire day. How about I get all of those after I’m done, and you’ll have them for the night. I know you were excited to get them sooner and break into the watercolors, but it’s the best I can do.”

Cecilia dropped her frown and uncrossed her arms. The look of disappointment on her brother’s face made her feel bad; he looked as though he had forever severed their relationship. “It’s fine, it’s not a big deal! We all forget stuff sometimes; it’s not the end of the world.” She hugged him, and he hugged her back.

“I know, I just feel so irresponsible when I forget a promise.”

“I understand, and I’ve done it so many times too. We’ve all learned to forgive each other for it. We're family, so that’s what we do.”

“Thanks, Cecilia. So, I’ll get you all of those things tomorrow after work, I promise.”

“Thank you.”

He said good night to her after breaking their hug; she was going to stay up longer, but he had to get up early to help Jack. After he lay his head down to sleep, Ronald broke into a silent prayer, as he was wont to do before going to sleep. However, there was more on his heart than normal, and he kept going. The only thing that stopped him was the sleep that hit him mid-sentence.

Even though Jack told Ronald to be there at seven, he himself was there an hour sooner to evaluate the situation and determine what should be done next to fix up the interior. The building itself looked brand new, as though no fire had ever grazed it. Jack teared up from seeing it back the way it was; Marcus, and the city workers he paid off did such a great job restoring what had been lost. He couldn’t wait to go back inside and continue improving it.

He whistled as he walked inside, and his heart sank slightly from seeing the burned furniture and machinery. It wasn’t as bad as the damage done to the outside, but it was still pretty rough. He planned to call Marcus about it later to see if he would be willing to help get this stuff fixed too. Besides that, there was plenty here for Ronald to do once he got here.

Marcus and Ronald showed up ten minutes before seven, and before Jack would give his list of assignments to Ronald for the day, he made his request to Marcus.

“Let me see the damage.” The wolf said, and Jack led him inside.

“Okay…” Marcus thought to himself as he surveyed the interior. As it was much smaller than his own factory, evaluating the situation didn’t take very long. “Yeah, I can help with this too; this shouldn’t be too bad. I’ll make a list of what needs to be replaced, and what needs a repair, put that in to your manufacturer, and get it her by, hm....probably Thursday. In the meantime, just keep using my space instead.”

Jack had always wondered what it was like to have infinite money; he thought about asking Marcus about it sometime.

“And I take it you have a lot for Ronald to do?”

“Oh yes, but he’s going to have helpers too, since I will need to leave for your factory today. I’ll guide him for about an hour, and then the one I picked to be Ronald’s supervisor the rest of the day will be here. His name is Joshua, and is a raccoon a little older than me, if you need to come here to talk to him about Ronald’s work later on.”

Marcus nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.” He then turned to Ronald. “Alright son, plan to work very hard today, and your mom will pick you up at five by the way.”

“Okay. Bye dad, I’ll see you later. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

So Marcus left for his own job, and Jack began introducing Ronald to his. Ronald was ready to work hard, but even he wasn’t braced for what he was about to see.

Ash and trash. Everywhere.

“Okay, so I know it looks horrible…” Jack said to the horrified squirrel. “But I’ve brought things to help make you safe while you clear out all this ash. I have a hazmat mask for you to wear so you won’t breathe any of this in, and you’re going to wear gloves too."

“Okay…”

Ronald had to remind himself that he was getting thirty-five an hour for this, so he’d better suck it up and do it with a good attitude.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“What you’ll do is take this broom right here and sweep all the ash and debris you see outside, and I’m going to have a crew from there take it all away. The idea here is that you’re making it easier for them to get to the waste; hence why you’re taking it outside.”

Ronald nodded, bracing himself for hours of sweeping, and maybe weeping.

“After that, you’re going to start helping with repainting the damaged walls, and don’t worry, the supervisor I’m sending will show you how it’s done, if you don’t know already. I’m also sending in other helpers throughout the day so you don’t have to feel too overwhelmed by all of this. Here, I’ll get you your stuff now so you can get started.”

“Are we going to get breaks throughout the day?”

“Yes, and there’s going to be food and drink provided when it’s lunch. You’re all going to be well-fed and strengthened throughout the day so you can keep up the hard work. I’ll be here for another hour to make sure you’re settled and if you have any questions, so let’s go ahead and get started, shall we?”

So Jack fetched the mask, gloves, and wide broom, and gave them to Ronald. As he put on the hazmat mask, he felt like he became 200-percent cooler, like he was now some alien from the latest sci-fi flick.

“Heh, I bet I could scare Cecilia with this.”

He also put on the gloves and picked up the broom.

“Alright, so when you start sweeping, make sure everything goes out that door.” Jack pointed. “In the afternoon, the hazmat crew will sweep the pile up into their truck and take it away. Do your best to get it all out today, but if not, it will just get finished up the next day.”

“I promise I’ll sweep it all up today.” Ronald confidently vowed, even though he should’ve learned by now not to throw promises around willy-nilly. Nevertheless, he started sweeping, ready to conquer all this debris.

“I love the attitude. Alright, so I’ll leave you to it, and if you need anything, I’ll be in my office over there.”

“Cool, thanks.”

So Jack went to his office to see if there was anything in here that needed to be fixed too. Thankfully, this room hardly suffered any damage, and this was where he kept a lot of important documents like bills, orders, and receipts.

“Whoever advised me to make copies of all these important documents before starting this business is a life-saver. Even if this room had also burned down, I still have all the important stuff I need elsewhere…”

Meanwhile, Ronald continued his work with all the gusto and enthusiasm he could muster. Now that he promised to get rid of all the debris by today, he had to do whatever he could to fulfill it. Jack seemed like a reasonable boss so far, and he hoped that Joshua would be the same.

Once 8:00 rolled around, Jack announced he was leaving to work on his order, and as if on cue, Joshua showed up. Along with him came a few others, also raccoons. Could they have been family members? They all looked pretty strong and well-fed, and also a little intimidating. Ronald waved at them and kept working. Now that the sun was higher up, he was starting to feel hotter. The hazmat mask and gloves didn’t help him feel any more comfortable.

“So that’s Ronald?” Joshua asked.

“Yes, and as you can see, he’s been doing a good job so far. He barely started an hour ago.” Jack commented, gesturing to the floor. “Almost the entire floor was covered in this filth, and now it’s already one-third of the way done.”

So Jack had left, and Joshua quickly introduced himself and the others. Two of the others were his twin sons, who were eighteen, and the third was his older brother. Ronald felt small and incongruous, being the only not-raccoon here, as well as the youngest, the thinnest, and the least-muscular.

“Jack gave me a list of everything he’d like to get done today.” Joshua reminded him. “After the floor is cleared up, come find me and I’ll tell you what’s next. There will be a fifteen-minute break at nine, thirty-minute lunch at twelve, and last break will be at 2:30. Food and water will be out in the back, and make sure you use those times to rest up and reenergize. It’s still summer, so it’s going to get a lot hotter later.”

During the next hour, Ronald didn’t talk very much, even when one of the other brothers wanted to strike up a conversation with him. His mind was intensely focused on the work; maybe he’d converse with them during break.

Or maybe not.

When it was time for the first break, the twin brothers suddenly didn’t seem all that interested in saying anything to Ronald. Instead, they just stuck with each other and, for some reason, spoke quietly to each other. Ronald did his best to listen in on them; after all, when people were whispering around you, then it’s likely you’re the subject of their dialogue.

“That scrawny rich boy shouldn’t even be here.” One of them said, “Leave the hard work to us while you go relax on your yacht.”

Wow, were they actually talking about him?

“And you know what I heard? He’s getting thirty-five an hour for this! As if he needs more cash!”

The other cussed angrily. “F*#% that! We do the same work and don’t even get half that!”

Ronald was flabbergasted; how could they have known what Jack was paying him? That was information he NEVER wanted them to know! He also wasn’t very flattered by the rich-boy stereotypes, but his wages being public was much more upsetting. He thought they were going to kill him before the day was over.

When they returned to work, Ronald kept even more to himself and just focused on his work. Joshua thanked him on occasion for coming in to help and for working hard, and he’d simply nod, say thank you, and keep going. The twins’ uncle also kept to himself a lot. The twins themselves mostly stayed away from Ronald, but from what he could tell, they weren’t doing anywhere near as much as he was. He noticed them talking a lot and being indolent, but chose not to let it bother him.

“Maybe you’re not getting thirty-five an hour because you waste time and complain about others instead of actually working.” He wanted to tell them off.

It was now noon; the temperature was 98-degrees Fahrenheit, and Ronald wanted to down all the water that was there. He was also famished and ready to scarf down something nutritious and filling.

Joshua had announced earlier that he ordered them all sandwiches from a high-rated restaurant in downtown, and that made the squirrel look forward to lunch that much more. It was a restaurant he knew about, and had experienced a lot of the delicious food they served there.

The sandwiches were all supposed to be in the cooler, and they were all supposed to be wrapped up and marked with their names. The sandwich Ronald requested was simple, but something he had always enjoyed since living here. The filling was ruch, dense paste made from peanuts, acorns, and hazelnuts. There was also a jelly spread that was composed of grapes, strawberries, and mango. The mango sounded unusual to him at first in conjunction with the other flavors, but when he first tried it eight years ago, he fell in love with it. It added a subtle, tropical touch that was an absolute joy to his taste buds. The bread itself was wheat bread, but infused with honey. The sandwich itself was fairly large, and he could never finish one in a single sitting. However, he knew that just half of it was going to give him the calories and energy he needed to finish the day strong. The only setback was that it was going to make him feel fat and sluggish at first, but that’d wear off and give way to high-energy work.

Ronald was the last one to get to the cooler, which was fine because that’d make his sandwich the easiest to find.

Except the cooler was empty.

And now Ronald was angry.

“Uh, where’s my lunch?” He asked no one in particular.

“There should be one more in there.” Joshua replied, putting down his food and walking over to help him. He also saw it was empty, and now he became mad.

“I swear that I brought back five, and that they all made it into the cooler.”

Ronald looked over at the twins, fully expecting to see them splitting and eating his sandwich...except they only had their own. He also looked over at their uncle; though he had quite a gut that looked like could harbor two full-sized sandwiches, he only had one before him.

“I’ll go back to my truck and make sure I didn’t leave it in there.”

Ronald nodded, very irritated. He believed Joshua; the older raccoon didn’t seem like someone who’d forget something that easy. Ronald was convinced the twins were behind this. While Joshua conducted his search, Ronald launched one of his own, suspecting that the twins took it and hid it somewhere.

Joshua came back with nothing, and by now, there were only ten minutes left for lunch. Ronald was irritable and frustrated, and Joshua was flustered as well, not getting to finish his own food, and feeling like a horrible supervisor for letting one of his employees go hungry on a difficult work day.

It became 12:30, and Ronald resigned himself to the fact he was going to have to work through his hunger and just look forward to a big dinner. Joshua told him it’d be okay if he didn’t want to work the rest of the day out of hunger, but Ronald replied that he was going to tough it out and keep going. He saw this as a chance to prove himself strong and resilient, and opted not to tell anyone else what happened, not even Jack.

By last break, Ronald was feeling the pain in his stomach, and wondered if he really should just call it a day.

“I have no energy left...but...I just can’t leave now! There’s still work to be done, and I can’t just leave it hanging. I promised Jack I was going to work really hard today, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Joshua checked in with him again, and despite suggesting that he should go home and eat, Ronald refused, like a wounded soldier insisting he take on a hundred more armed foes.

“I don’t want something to happen to you; overestimating yourself can be dangerous, and not only could that risk your health and safety, but it could put my job and Jack’s career on the line.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m technically Jack’s employee; I came here because I wanted to. If I faint or get sick or whatever, it’s totally fine if no one reports it; I don’t even plan on telling anyone that I had no lunch. I’m really not even that mad about it anymore; I just want to get as much work done as I can.”

Joshua sighed, not feeling good about this at all. He couldn’t, in good conscience, continue to let him work in these conditions.

“I have an idea...I can have you still work on something, but not something too physical if you want to break from that the rest of the day. The new furniture is arriving at three, and as you know, it’s pretty heavy.”

Should Ronald bite the bullet? He really, really wanted to be a tough guy...but he was starting to feel weak. The idea of moving furniture for two hours right now sounded awful to him.

“You know what...I’ll do this other thing then; I’ve about reached my limit with lifting and moving stuff.”

So Joshua started to explain what he’d do now, and started by asking Ronald if he was good at math, to which he replied he got a C in trigonometry and was terrified of calculus coming up. The raccoon assured him he wouldn’t be doing anything close to that; mostly just a lot of adding and checking for accuracy.

“When the furniture arrives, they’re going to give us the bills for all of it, and what you’re going to do is transfer that to Jack’s expense report.” Joshua opened a desk drawer in the office and found it at the top of a stack of other papers. It was a dark-blue folder that contained tons and tons of mathematical figures and listings. Adding was easy for Ronald, but it was dizzying seeing those towers of numbers teeter before his very eyes.

Joshua turned on Jack’s computer and printed out some blank templates. Ronald watched as he opened some documents and copied down some numbers onto one of the printed sheets. None of those numbers stood out, except for the “$1,044,000” under the “Customer Order” column.

“Is that the million-dollar order Jack got a couple days ago?”

Joshua nodded.

Even though his dad’s company was worth around 50-million now, one-million was nothing to sneeze at. That was more than 999,000 than what he had. Joshua went on to explain what Ronald was to do with the new bills that’d come in. He’d copy the expenses off of each bill into a certain column, and then add it all up at the end. This was also to be done with all the paint that was going to be delivered that would be used to restore the inside color. This was nowhere near the top of Jack’s list of things he wanted Ronald to do, but Joshua had to work with the situation he was handed.

Ronald couldn’t find much excitement in this line of work, but he understood that work wasn’t always meant to be fun. Sometimes, you had to deal with monotonous drudgery if you wanted those dollars in your hands. As the furniture arrived, so did a nice stack of bills for Ronald to look over. He was left to his own devices for now, as Joshua and his family were the ones tasked with moving it all where it was supposed to go, as well as removing and discarding all the burnt furniture. Shortly before four, Joshua reminded Ronald that the hazmat crew was coming soon to remove all the ash and debris that was sweeped out, and that would be yet another bill he’d have to add to the “Expenses” column. At the end of all of this, Ronald was going to have to take the sum of all the expenses and subtract it from the company’s total income, which would yield how much money in total was available to the company. Ronald noticed how the bills he was receiving today were amounting into the thousands, but that soon seemed like nothing when his eyes glanced over at the seven-digit number of salvation.

“With all this data entry I’m doing, I feel like I should at least be wearing a tie and some rectangular glasses. I feel so much like a nine-to-five businessman.”

Towards the end of his shift, Ronald was actually starting to enjoy what he was doing. He felt so important handling all these big numbers, and felt validated by the fact that Jack entrusted him with this at all. Granted, it wasn’t difficult, but still, these were the company’s financial records he was updating, and that weighed a lot.

At 4:52, as Joshua was about to alert everyone to wrap things up, he walked by a random garbage can, and detected a particularly putrid and pungent smell coming from it. His nose crinkled, and he walked over to see whatever it could’ve been.

Ronald’s sandwich.

He wasn’t about to take it out, of course; a family of rats had already gotten to it.

“Sorry, it’s ours.” One of them said to him, “We found it first.”

“Well, I did technically buy it, but consider it on the house.”

He could only guess that one of his sons did this while he wasn’t looking. He overheard a lot of the derogatory and hateful things they were saying about him, and shortly before lunch, one of them mysteriously left for the lunch area and came back a minute later. Now he knew why, and he was prepared to make them face his wrath and disappointment at home for treating Ronald this way.

“I should just give both their checks to Ronald; he kept to himself and worked hard, and they didn’t do much except complain and spew bile about him. They had NO nerve belly-aching about his thirty-five-an-hour wage when he was actually the one working for it.”

At a little past five, Marcus and Jack showed up; Marcus to pick up his son, and Jack to look over his business and get a briefing from Joshua about the day’s work. He shook Ronald’s hand and thanked him for all his help.

“You almost look like you’re ready to pass out.” Jack commented. “I hope you took advantage of the breaks and all the food and water.”

“I did, thank you.”

Joshua then passed by him and gave Ronald his check. He looked over it and his mouth dropped open. It was $332.50 for a 9.5 hour day (factoring the unpaid break).

“Wow! Thank you!” He said to Jack.

“Of course! Anyways, you should go home and rest. I’ll let you know if I want you to come tomorrow, but it’s okay if you want to turn it down if you need extra time to rest. I know this was a tough day, and I don’t want to overwork you.”

“I’m sure I’ll feel good after I eat and sleep tonight; I’d be happy to come in again tomorrow if you need me.”

Before Jack could reply, Joshua broke in quickly just to ask Marcus if he could speak to him privately, before either of them had to leave.

“Sure.”

Off to the side, Joshua told Marcus how impressed he was with Ronald for working hard through the whole day and not letting certain difficult circumstances get him down. He wasn’t specific about the sandwich, as Ronald himself didn’t feel it was important, but he extolled the young squirrel as a good worker with a good attitude.

“I just wanted to let you know, sir. Your son is going to go far, like his dad.”

“Thank you for letting me know all of this; that makes me really happy to hear. I’ll let Ronald know what you said about him.”

After Marcus and Ronald had left, Joshua briefed Jack on how the day went, and led the sable inside to see the difference. Jack was quite happy with the progress, and he was thinking it’d only take one more day to get things back the way he had them before.

Meanwhile, Ronald just remembered that he promised to do his sister a favor and buy her certain things. He asked his dad to take him to the art store, to which he obliged.

“You’re a good employee and a good brother; I’m really proud of you.” He said to him, and repeated to him what Joshua had said.

“I just did what I was supposed to do; there’s nothing special about me.”

“It’s honorable being a hard worker and doing what you can to be an asset to your boss and his business; don’t downplay yourself like that. It made me happy to hear what Joshua told me, and you should feel good about it too.”

Ronald took a little longer than expected, and came back to the car with more things than he expected. He was practically dragging the bag behind him.

“Ah, are you getting to do art as well?”

“Oh, I might; there’s a lot of fun things in that store.”

Back home, Cecilia was about to greet her father and brother when she noticed the giant bag Marcus was carrying, and it had the logo of the art store that she liked. He set it down on the floor.

“This is all from Ronald.”

“Wha-? Uh, Ronald, y-you didn’t buy the entire story, did you? It was just a few things.”

“I know, but after looking around that place while shopping, I feel like there were a lot more things in there you would appreciate. Heck, I just might start doing art myself!”

Cecilia was stunned, and since this was so much, she asked her dad to carry it to her room so she could open it there. It was like she was having an unscheduled birthday.

Ronald joined Cecilia in her room and watched her start breaking into the bag of treasures. There were the sketchbooks, colored pencils, and watercolors...and a whole lot more.

“A new sharpener!”

“Yeah, I noticed that your old one sometimes ruins your pencils, so I figured you’d like a better replacement. I was surprised you didn’t ask for one, actually.”

Cecilia pulled out the next thing. “Wow! I’ve heard this is an excellent paint set! I’ve always wanted one of this brand!”

“Yeah, I noticed you always like to try new things with art, and you haven’t done painting yet, so now you can give that a try. When I was browsing through different brands, the floor associate recommended this one as great for people starting out, so I picked it up.”

It didn’t end there; high-quality erasers, some tutorial books, a big portfolio to store her works, paint brushes; Cecilia was being spoiled at this point.

By the time she had gone through every item, she had started to cry, and she hugged Ronald so tightly that he had to push away a bit.

“Ronald, this is...this is so generous; I never would’ve thought you would go overboard for me like this. You’re the best brother anyone could have.” She didn’t stop hugging him.

“Aw, would you still say that about me if I didn’t get all the extra things?

“Of course I would,” she replied without hesitation, “but this just goes to prove it even more. I’ve been thankful for having you as my brother ever since I could start remembering anything. One of my earliest memories was when we were running from the forest fire, and I was four. You thought our dad, well, before he became our dad, was going to eat us, and you tried to shield me from him. Even though you ended up being very wrong about him, I remember that gesture. All these extra art things are great, but they don’t make me love you anymore than I already do.”

Cecilia really didn’t hope he bought all this stuff out of feeling guilt from forgetting his promise initially. She didn’t tell this to him though, but instead told him that the next thing she wanted to do for him was draw him something with her new paints.

Later, Marcus knocked on her door and called for Ronald.

“It’s Jack; he wants to speak to you.”

“Okay, coming.”

He left Cecilia with her big pile of artsy things and went to go answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Ronald, hey! Sorry, I meant to call you earlier, but got sidetracked with a few things at the office. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you again for helping me out today; Joshua had a lot of good things to say about you, and I have just two regrets; one is that I didn’t raise your wages even more, and secondly, for thinking Joshua’s sons were going to be civil to you.”

“Oh? Uh, how did you know about that?”

“Joshua overheard a lot of hateful and wrong things they were saying about you, and that one of them even threw away your lunch.”

“So that’s what happened, huh? I suspected it was them, but had no proof.”

“He found it in one of the trash cans near the end of the day, and there were rats already eating it. I’m really sorry you had to deal with them; if I had known they were going to be that uncouth, I would’ve found others to help.”

“Well, I was definitely pretty mad at first about that, but I managed to power through.” It was then that Ronald realized he still hadn’t eaten since that first break almost ten hours ago. His stomach made an embarrassing gurgling sound; as though on cue. It was so loud that he feared Jack heard it over the phone.

“Anyways, I wanted to let you know that I’d like you to come tomorrow if possible as well. However, I think everything that’s left could get done in a half-day, so if you want to come, you could start at noon. I’m also bumping your wages up to thirty-seven if you decide to do it.”

“Yeah, I’ll come. What’s there left?”

“Just some patches of wall that still need to be painted. There should also be a lot more people coming tomorrow to help, so you’ll feel more like you’re in a team. Joshua’s sons also won’t be there. Also, you won’t need a mask or gloves this time, though I could give you a mask for the smell if it bothers you.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

“That’s fair. Alright, well, you have a good night, sir, and I’ll see you at noon. Oh, and just have lunch before you get there; there will be a break, but just for ten minutes, and it won’t be until three.”

“Got it, thanks. You have a good night too.”

After the call, Ronald finally started on the dinner his mom made for him. Though the soup was still hot, and completely delicious, he practically downed it in one gulp. He had never gone from empty stomach to stomach-ache so fast, but at least he was now satisfied.

“Thanks for the dinner, it was good.” He went to wash his bowl.

“The way you made it vanish within twelve nanoseconds tells me everything.” She smiled. “Though don’t be afraid to savor it next time.”

“I’ll go slower next time; I was just extremely hungry.”

He bid her good night, and she him, and he went back to his own room. It was only 7:30, but his body was aching for some Z’s, as was his mind.

Shortly before eight, Cecilia, who was nowhere near tired, swung by her brother’s room to ask if he wanted to watch a certain movie with her. However, before she could knock on his door, she detected a very unexpected and concerning sound.

Crying.

She wanted to burst in and ask what was wrong, but the last time she barged in on him crying, he got mad at her, likely because he was embarrassed. She lowered her hand and decided not to knock. Maybe Ronald just wanted to be alone right now.

Not far away, in the Tyndale household, Jack and Marie had put their children to bed, and were enjoying an enthralling game of Scrabble. They made their games last longer than average, as Marie was convinced that various made-up words were legitimate, and Jack always wanted to argue against them, especially if he was winning.

“No, ‘rockify’ is not a word.”

“Yes it is; it’s to turn something into a rock, as if you were casting a magic spell on something. You read “Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” in elementary school, didn’t you? The character was turned into a rock, so he was ‘rockified.’”

“If you can show me that word from the book, then I’ll give it to you.” He smirked.

“Well, I can’t quite do that, so I guess that’s out.” She sighed, unable to use all seven of her tiles for her word.

Somehow, Marie had won, so her prize was that Jack had to clean the rest of the dishes.

“It was my turn to wash these anyways, so it was lose-lose for me.”

“Aw, it’s okay, you’ll do better next time.” She stood next to him. “Goodness, those are some dirty plates. I’m so sorry.” She taunted.

After he finished, he flicked some water in her face and darted for their room, laughing.

“Come back here!” She chased him, also laughing. He jumped onto the bed, and she pounced right on him.

“No one flicks water at me and lives!”

“Not even your adoring husband? Ouch!”

The two continued to wrestle and roughhouse for a few minutes before succumbing to exhaustion and laughter.

“Do you think we woke the kids up?” Marie asked, panting.

“Nah, they sleep through everything, unless you announce there’s candy.”

The two finally wound down enough to be able to sleep. Marie curled up beside Jack, and his arm was placed around her shoulders. They hadn’t messed around like that in a long time, and Jack enjoyed it. Everything that was being done for him and his family lately was helping melt away the stress he was holding onto. He gave his wife a small kiss on the cheek before falling asleep.

And then he had that dream.

A common nightmare people tend to have involves being chased by a meat-eating beast. Jack’s children, Marie, and Jack himself have experienced them.

In his dream, Jack was running through a dark forest, but he somehow never crashed into any trees. His body was covered in scratches and scars, but that didn’t slow his steps. He couldn’t stop running; not with the one who gave him the scratches was still on the loose.

“He’s going to kill me, he’s going to kill me…” He said to himself over and over.

And there he was; that dreaded wolverine. Oh, the wolverine himself wasn’t the one chasing and hunting down Jack.

Jack was the one hunting him.

“Not if I kill you first!”

The wolverine turned around just in time to see Jack leap on him, and the smaller sable bit mercilessly into his neck, causing blood to spray in all directions, and get all over Jack’s teeth.

“J-jack...n-no…”

But the wolverine died as Jack ripped out his esophagus and spat it on the ground in disdain. He looked up after accomplishing his kill, and beheld Marie, Dylan, and Beth looking at him like he was a monster.

“Daddy…” Beth started to cry as she hid behind her mother, and Dylan did likewise.

“M-marie...I-”

“Get away from me!” Marie shouted at him. “How could I ever have married you?!”

And then Jack woke up, sweating. Marie was still sleeping, and the kids were likely still sleeping as well.

Beth was woken up not much later, and though it was still dark, she understood what was going on. Her father was holding and cradling her very softly, and singing something under his breath quietly to her. She rested her little head against his chest and let him lull her back to sleep. She didn’t realize it, but there were tears in his eyes.